MUMBAI: Genius Products in the US has entered into a multi-year agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to be the exclusive home entertainment distributor of all WWE DVD titles.
The deal takes effect from 1 November, 2006.
The Weinstein Company is the majority owner of Genius Products. WWE chairman Vince McMahon says. "Home entertainment is a major part of the WWE's business, and we believe we have found in Genius a company that understands our brand and will help us continue to drive our company's growth. Bob and Harvey Weinstein have a tremendous track record. We are excited about this partnership and its long-term potential."
WWE says that it has successfully used its core businesses of live events, pay-per-view, and producing television content for broadcast and cable networks to establish a vibrant global brand with a presence in more than 130 countries. The company has significantly expanded its line of popular licensed consumer products, such as video games, toys, books and magazines, to territories around the world.
WWE is focused on spreading its sports entertainment content to new media platforms, and has experienced success with subscription video on demand, broadband and mobile services, online advertising and ecommerce. It also has created a film division focused on the production of feature films, and other film and television projects.
Bob Weinstein noted, "WWE is not simply a brand; it is an American Icon. Harvey and I very much relate to Vince McMahon's entrepreneurial style and entertainment philosophy. We love what Vince has done in making WWE the leading sports entertainment franchise in the world, and we are very interested in expanding our relationship beyond DVD distribution to other facets of WWE's global entertainment empire. We view our relationship with WWE as a major alliance with great growth potential."
Under the terms of the agreement, Genius will be the exclusive US distributor for all WWE DVDs. New releases will include content from WWE's 90,000-hour video library, the largest of its kind in the world, featuring content from Raw, SmackDown! and ECW, pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania, and past and present Superstar profiles, among others.
